Eliana Fornaciari

University of Padova | UNIPD · Department of Geosciences

Pronounced warming negatively impacts ecosystem resilience in modern oceans. To offer a long‐term geological perspective of the calcareous plankton response to global warming, we present an integrated record, from two Tethyan sections (northeastern Italy), of the planktic foraminiferal and calcareous nannofossil response to the Eocene Thermal Maxim...

The Eocene of Collio (easternmost Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northeastern Italy) contains rich larger foraminiferal assemblages mainly dominated by nummulitids of genera Nummulites and Assilina. Herein, we document, by typological and biometric approaches, upper Ypresian to lower Lutetian taxa, dated by an integrated biostratigraphy combining the Shall...

Long fragments of isocrinid stalks belonging to the stalked crinoid genus Isselicrinus (Isocrinida, Isselicrininae) were found at Cambrigar, near Ferrara di Monte Baldo (Verona province, northeastern Italy) in the strata called “Harpactocarcinus punctulatus and Pentacrinus diaboli horizon”, traditionally ascribed to the lower Eocene (Ypresian). Mor...

Nowadays, the infraorder Delphinida (oceanic dolphins and kin) represents the most diverse extant clade of Cetacea, with delphinids alone accounting for more than 40% of the total number of living cetacean species. As for other cetacean groups, the Early Miocene represents a key interval for the evolutionary history of Delphinida, as it was during...

The present study focuses on calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy of the last 23 Myr in the Mediterranean region and is intended as a review paper in which an updated zonation is presented. This includes the improvements in biostratigraphic classification achieved in the last decades. The proposed biozonal scheme incorporates the biochronologic d...

Mediterranean climates are characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Previous studies suggest that over the last 1.36 Myr, Mediterranean winter rainfalls were in phase with the African monsoon. Here we present a high-resolution terrestrial and marine dataset for the Marine Isotope Stage 17 interglacial (Middle Pleistocene) from So...

We present here new quantitative analyses of planktic and benthic foraminifera to assess the impact of the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO, ~40 Ma) on these biotic groups studied along a shallow-water succession rich in larger benthic foraminifera (Sealza, Liguria, NW Italy). The MECO is one of the major Eocene global warming events, character...

Three key Paleocene deep-sea sections cropping out in northern Italy contain intercalations of calciturbiditic, larger foraminifera-bearing beds derived from shallow water environments. The reconstructed Southern Alps record obtained by splicing the three sections allowed a direct correlation of the shallow benthic SB and calcareous nannofossils CN...

This study focuses on the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO, centered at ~40 Ma) which is one of the major Eocene global warming events, characterized by ~4–6°C warming, shifts in the global carbon cycle and rise in atmospheric pCO2. Even though the MECO is a still enigmatic event, studies on its paleobiotic effects are yet rather limited, and e...

The definition of the Cretaceous shark genus Cretodus Sokolov, 1965 is primarily based on isolated teeth. This genus includes five species. Among these, Cretodus houghtonorum Shimada and Everhart, 2019 is the only species based on a partially preserved skeleton. Here, the taxonomic attribution of a virtually complete skeleton of Cretodus from the T...

The Monte San Nicola area (Southern Sicily) offers a spectacular exposure of open-marine sediments that were employed in 1998 for defining the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Gelasian Stage (Upper Pliocene). After the lowering of the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary to ca. 2.6 Ma in 2010, the Gelasian GSSP has been redefined as the b...

In 2016 a new Cretaceous ichthyosaur rostrum fragment (IG 251372) was found near Gombola, Modena Province, northern Italy. Two rostral fragments and a partial humerus were previously reported from the same locality. Despite their fragmentary nature, all these finds are relatively well preserved, with just slightly deformed shape and teeth still in...

The first articulated dentition of †Ptychodus from Africa is described herein. The specimen, likely coming from the Turonian of the Asfla area (Goulmima region, southeastern Morocco), exhibits a well-preserved lower dental plate of a second-level predator. A new species, †P. maghrebianus sp. nov., is erected herein based on this durophagous dentiti...

This paper unveils the history of the fossil cycadacean Cycadeoidea veronensis, recovered at Verona in the mid of eighteen century and almost forgotten since the early nineteen century. The careful investigation of available literature and recently published documents, along with the examination of historical material housed in some museums allowed...

The base of the Priabonian Stage is one of two stage boundaries in the Paleogene that remains to be formalized. The Alano section (NE Italy) was elected by consensus as a suitable candidate for the base of the Priabonian during the Priabonian Working Group meeting held in Alano di Piave in June 2012. Further detailed research on the section is now...

Associated and isolated teeth of the extinct elasmobranch Ptychodus latissimus Agassiz, 1835 from the Upper Cretaceous Scaglia Rossa pelagic limestone of northern Italy are described and discussed here in detail for the first time. The dentition of this widely distributed species consists of low-crowned molariform teeth that exhibit marked and stro...

Poor age control in Pleistocene sediments of the central Arctic Ocean generates considerable uncertainty in paleoceanographic reconstructions. This problem is rooted in the perplexing magnetic polarity patterns recorded in Arctic marine sediments and the paucity of microfossils capable of providing calibrated biostratigraphic biohorizons or continu...

The Bonarelli Level (BL) is a radiolarian-ichthyolithic, organic-rich marker bed that was deposited close to the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary (CTB) representing the sedimentary expression of the global Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2). In northeastern Italy this horizon yielded fossil remains documenting a rather diverse ichthyofauna. The assemblage w...

Dental and skeletal remains of Ptychodus mediterraneus from the Upper Cretaceous Scaglia Rossa Formation of northeastern Italy are described and discussed herein, together with isolated teeth of P. latissimus and P. polygyrus from the English Chalk of Sussex, southern England. The redescription of the holotype of Ptychodus mediterraneus and lectoty...

The Varignano section (Trento province, northern Italy) provides an exceptional opportunity for a direct correlation between shallow benthic (SB) zones and standard calcareous plankton zones at the Bartonian–Priabonian transition (middle–late Eocene). This transition has attracted great attention by biostratigraphers in the last decades in searchin...

Isolated and associated teeth referred to Ptychodus decurrens Agassiz, 1838 and P. cf. latissimus Agassiz, 1835 (Condritti, Elasmobranchi), are described and figured herein. The material, mostly coming from the Trentino region, is housed in the Paleontological Collection of the Museo Civico di Rovereto (Trento, northern Italy). Based on the describ...

The present paper summarises the state of the art of the studies on Italian Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) records. The PETM (~ 56 Ma) likely represents the most dramatic and rapid event of global climate warming of the whole Cenozoic. During the PETM, temperatures at the Earth’s surface probably increased by at least 5°C over a few thous...

In this paper we report for the first time remains of the long-snouted bony fish ‘Protosphyraena’ stebbingi Woodward, 1909 from the Upper Cretaceous of northeastern Italy. The material described herein consists of two rostra, one of which is nearly complete and the other only partially preserved, collected from Crespadoro (Monti Lessini) and Villa...

Cretoxyrhina mantelli was a large pelagic lamniform shark geographically widespread during the Late Cretaceous, and well known because of several nearly complete skeletons from the Western Interior Seaway of North America. Here we report 15 partial skeletons belonging to lamniform sharks from the ‘lastame’ lithozone of the Upper Cretaceous Scaglia...

The crustacean fauna associated with corals from the late Eocene at Campolongo di Val Liona (Berici Hills, Vicenza, NE Italy). A late Eocene crustacean fauna associated with corals from the Strata quarry at Campolongo di Val Liona (Berici Hills, Vicenza) is described with representatives of two families within the Thalassinidea, five within the Ano...

Dental remains of the elasmobranch Ptychodus from the Upper Cretaceous of northeastern Italy are described herein. This material, consisting of two slabs containing a partially associated tooth set and additional detached teeth with similar morphological features, derives from different lithozones of the Scaglia Rossa Formation, known as the ʻlasta...

Late Cretaceous Amber form Castelvecchio di Prignano, Modena province, northern Apennines (Italy).

The ¹⁰Be/⁹Be ratio is acknowledged as an effective tool for establishing the stratigraphic position of paleomagnetic excur-sions. Still, our data suggest that, in particular depositional settings, the interplay between climate, sedimentation and oceanography may jeopardize a realistic depiction of the natural ¹⁰Be/⁹Be record. © 2010 AIQUA - Associa...

The genus Protosphyraena is known mainly from partial remains, consisting of isolated blade-like teeth, conical rostra and scythe-like pectoral fins. This paper provides a new insight into partial specimens of the genus Protosphyraena from the Cretaceous of NE Italy, housed in historical collections from local paleontological museums and previously...

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Larger foraminifera (LF) are currently one of the most important carbonate producers in the shallow seas. In reef environments between 0 and 30 m the amount of CaCO3 production by LF is close to 5% of the total, but if we look at all the shallow-water environments the sands are often composed by LF tests (40- 98%). As pointed out by several authors...

In the nineties of the 20th century, a large and partially articulated skeleton of a lamniform shark was discovered in Upper Cretaceous hemipelagic beds of the Venetian Prealps of northeastern Italy. The shark, dating back to the middle Turonian, is here ascribed to Cretodus and represents the first record of this genus in Italy. The fossil is the...

The Monte Postale section (Bolca, northern Italy), one of the most famous Lagerstatten of the Eocene, has been investigated to reconstruct the sedimentary succession and to determine both the larger foraminiferal and the calcareous nannofossil biozones. The results allowed us to ascribe the Monte Postale limestones to the Shallow Benthic Zone 11 an...

An incomplete rostrum of a platypterygiine ichthyosaur (IGVR 94574) has recently been found near Tregnago (Verona, Italy), in the Lessini Mts. This is the first Cretaceous ichthyosaurian fossil found in Italy outside the northern Apennines, where fragmentary remains have been recovered since the 19th century. IGVR 94574 is a mid-distal rostral frag...

Several early Eocene hyperthermals have been recently investigated and characterized in terms of temperature anomalies and oceanographic changes. The effects of these climatic perturbations on biotic communities are much less constrained. Here we present new records from the Terche section (northeastern Italy) that, for the first time, integrates d...

The Monte Postale and Pesciara di Bolca sites are well-known Eocene Fossil-Lagerstätten. The origin of these deposits has been previously related to a lagoon environment, protected from the open sea by a barrier formed by some kind of reef. However, no detailed description of a bioconstructed system has ever been reported in the area. This study pr...

A marked switch in the abundance of the planktic foraminiferal genera Morozovella and Acarinina occurred at low-latitude sites near the start of the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO), a multi-million-year interval when Earth surface temperatures reached their Cenozoic maximum. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope data of bulk sediment are presented...

A borehole with continuous core-sampling has been carried out in the south eastern side of the fossiliferous olistolith of the Eocene Pesciara di Bolca (Lessini Mountains of Verona Province, Italy), reaching 40 m depth. The borehole encountered more than 30 m of limestone, marl and clay, overlaying the volcaniclastic rocks. The sedimentary successi...

The Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO) records the highest prolonged global temperatures over the past 70 Ma. Understanding the causes and timing of Eocene climate change remains a major challenge in Cenozoic paleoceanography, which includes the biotic response to climate variability and the changes among planktic foraminiferal assemblages across...

Calcareous nannofossils have provided a powerful biostratigraphic tool since the 1950's and 1960's, when several milestone papers began to highlight their potential use in dating Cenozoic sediments and rocks. Here, we present a new calcareous nannofossil biozonation for the Paleogene Period, which is based on biostratigraphic data collected during...

A review of the remains of mosasaurine mosasaurs from the upper Campanian–Maastrichtian of Italy is provided. The first discoveries of mosasaur material from Italy are represented by a series of isolated teeth from the Scaglia Rossa Formation north of Vittorio Veneto (late Campanian). These teeth show some similarities to Prognathodon, Liodon, and...

The deep-water hemipelagic Alano section is located in the Southern Alps of northern–eastern Italy close to the village of Alano di Piave in the type area of the Priabonian. Since 2005, the section has been presented as the potential Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the late Eocene Priabonian Stage at several meetings of the...

The Varignano section (Trento province, northern Italy), the sediments of which were deposited in a bathyal palaeoenvironment, contains eight resedimented bioclastic levels with larger foraminifera, thus providing an excellent opportunity to directly correlate the shallow benthic zones (SBZs) with the standard calcareous planktonic zones around the...

The Lower Pliocene succession of the Crotone Basin (Calabrian Arc, Southern Italy) is mainly comprised of blue-grey marly clay with good magnetic properties. Here the bio-magnetostratigraphic data indicate a mean sedimentation rate of about 12–15 cm/kyr. Around 3.7–3.6 Ma a major change in the sedimentation regime occurred: the blue-grey hemipelagi...

Karst in Emilia Romagna region (N-Italy) is mainly developed in Messinian gypsum rocks that outcrop on less than 1% of the regional territory. The numerous epigenic caves that have been discovered in these rocks are believed to have formed in the last ten thousands of years, with some having started developing before the LGM. Remnants of the intra-...

The late Early Eocene to Middle Eocene ~50-45 Million years ago (Ma) time interval in the middle bathyal, pelagic/hemipelagic succession of the Western Tethys Possagno section (southern Alps, Veneto), contains several episodes of negative carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) and concomitant dissolution of carbonates. These episodes are superimposed on...

Terra Nova, 24, 380–386, 2012 A high-resolution, integrated stratigraphic framework (stable isotope stratigraphy, standard calcareous nannofossil and foraminiferal biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy) together with geochemical and rock magnetic properties’ analyses of a complete and well-preserved succession at Contessa Valley (Gubbio, central Ita...

Calcareous nannofossils have provided a powerful biostratigraphic tool since the 1950's and 1960's, when several milestone papers began to highlight their potential use in dating Cenozoic sediments and rocks. Here, we present a new calcareous nannofossil biozonation for the Paleogene Period, which is based on biostratigraphic data collected during...

We present a study focused on changes in calcareous nannofossil assemblages of the Alano section during the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO). This warming event is characterized by a prominent perturbation both in oxygen and carbon stable isotopes around the Chron C18r-C18n transition (ca. 40. Ma) and lasting ca. 500-600. kyr. Semi-quantitativ...

Biostratigraphy based on calcareous nannofossils, integrated by magnetostratigraphic, geochronological and isotopic data, allowed establishing a precise chronological framework for the Pleistocene succession within the south-western sector of the Crotone Basin (Calabria, Southern Italy), where the Pliocene–Pleistocene global stratotype section and...

In the past few years, a wealth of paleomagnetic data gathered from Neogene sediments consistently showed that since ca. 10 Ma the Calabria terrane coherently drifted ~500 km ESE-ward from the Sardinian margin, and rotated 15°–20° clockwise (CW) as a rigid microplate between 2 and 1 Ma. Here we report on a high-resolution paleomagnetic investigatio...

The Alano section has been presented at the International Subcommission on Paleogene Stratigraphy (ISPS) as a potential candidate for defining the global boundary stratotype section and point (GSSP) of the late Eocene Priabonian Stage. The section is located in the Venetian Southern Alps of the Veneto region (NE Italy), which is the type area of th...

Recentemente è stato scoperto un nuovo giacimento a pesci fossili marini e piante sul Monte Solane (Provincia di Verona, Veneto, Italia settentrionale). Sono segnalati almeno nove taxa di pesci teleostei provenienti dalla località Monte Solane; sono tutti nuovi per la scienza e la maggior parte di essi è rappresentata da pesci mesopelagici. Lo stom...

A short sediment core from a local depression forming an intra basin on the Lomonosov Ridge, was retrieved during the Healy-Oden Trans-Arctic Expedition 2005 (HOTRAX). It contains a record of the Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 1–3 showing exceptionally high abundances of calcareous microfossils during parts of MIS 3. Based on radiocarbon dating, linea...

Pecetto di Valenza is the first Upper Miocene fossil fish locality of Piedmont to have been studied and the only one in which fossils are embedded in a diatomitic sediment. Sturani & Sampo' (1973) considered that it is Messinian in age. However, as a preliminary examination of the diatom flora from this locality by one of us (Elisabeth Fourtanier)...

The Crotone Basin, located on a stack of nappes piled up during the late Paleogene-Neogene, formed in the late Neogene to Quaternary as a forearc basin of the Ionian arc-trench system. The process of slab rollback caused rapid trench migration, resulting in an extensional-transtensional regime persisting most of the time in the forearc area. The la...

We present trace metal geochemistry and stable isotope records for the middle Eocene Alano di Piave section, NE Italy, deposited during magnetochron C18n in the marginal Tethys Ocean. We identify a ∼500 kyr long carbon isotope perturbation event we infer to be the middle Eocene climatic optimum (MECO) confirming the Northern Hemisphere expression a...